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See it, be it, and then tee it up: Black Women Golfers group opens new space in golf
See it, be it, and then tee it up: Black Women Golfers group opens new space in golf

CBC

time27-05-2025

  • Lifestyle
  • CBC

See it, be it, and then tee it up: Black Women Golfers group opens new space in golf

The first time I ever played golf, it was at when my colleague and friend, Anastasia Bucsis, and her wife, Diana Matheson, organized an afternoon of connecting with really cool women in the sports space in Toronto. Golfing was really hard. I remember thinking I have to swing accurately, look, and not move my body too wildly even though I need momentum. Despite having the bragging rights on family mini-putt tournaments, it was far more difficult than I expected. I was terrible. I ended up enjoying the golf cart with my friend who was as bad as me so we had fun driving around the course. Golf was not necessarily a vibe I connected with. People playing golf always look so pristine. And I had never seen a South Asian woman on the greens. But an event this past weekend has me thinking about community, growth of sport, and about picking up a club again. I first met Amaya Athill, who founded Black Women Golf in 2022, through a mutual friend. They told me Athill worked in golf. "Really?" I said, not masking my surprise. Athill is Black and I hadn't known any Black women in golf and I know a lot of women in sport. She smiled and laughed at my reply. "Yes! You should come out one day," she said graciously. I finally made it out to an event with the group Black Women Golfers. It was an introductory session for racialized women who want to learn golf and sharpen their game. Athill started playing golf at the age of five in Antigua, where she was born. She was introduced to it through her father. The sport was played by everyone who looked like her. "In Antigua, a lot of the administrators, the leaders, the players, looked like me," Athill said. "They came from my community. They were folks of colour. I felt there was no question about whether I belonged." She appreciated golf because she didn't connect with traditional sports. "No other sport stuck," she said. "I'm not a runner. Gosh, I think running is like death. I can't do it. I'm sorry." But golfing wasn't available for her in university, where she attended school in the U.K and studied to become a lawyer. She moved back to Antigua, did her Masters in the U.S. and returned to the U.K. And then COVID hit. She had just been married but her husband got stuck because of the policies and travel restrictions associated with COVID. Athill needed something to keep her sane. She joined a local municipal golf club and played with a number of predominantly Nepalese golfers in the area. Athill Googled "Black golfers" and got in touch with the African Caribbean Golf Association. She joined them and played once a month. They became her home and her community during her time in England. She began to put on events for Black women in golf. They were a success. Athill later moved to Canada and instead of jumping right back into law, she applied for jobs in golf. She started working with the First Tee program in Ontario. She saw the need for people who look like her to be involved with the sport. She is now the regional director of Ontario for Golf Canada. In Canada, there are about 4,000 members of PGA of Canada, the association that governs club pros and instructors, of which seven per cent identify as people of colour, and seven per cent are women. There are two Black women with PGA credentials and Athill is one of them. The other is Chloe Wells, who had a different experience with golf than Athill did. She grew up in Greater Toronto Area with a West African mom and a white dad from Windsor, Ont.. She was four when her dad got her into the game. Unlike Athill, Wells was acutely aware that she looked different than others in the game, and found herself subjected to unkind microaggressions as a child. When she was registered in a golf camp at age nine, one of the instructors at the camp called her "Aunt Jemima" because she was wearing a bandana. That instructor was fired after she told her parents what happened. Wells was talented and a coach named Carrie Vaughan saw her potential and helped her develop her skills. "She was willing to teach me longterm," Wells said of Vaughan. Wells played golf at Georgian College where she received a Bachelor's degree in golf management. When Athill started working with community groups in 2023, she connected with Wells and both of them brought something special to Black Women Golfers. The impact of their presence while exposing new golfers to the sport is incredible. "I've actually received a lot more support than I expected," Athill said. "So I think overall, there's been a lot of 'Oh my gosh! This is amazing. I'm really happy for what you're doing!'" Other than one lady making snide remarks at an event, Athill nor the group have had no issues. They play soca music on the greens, wear the coolest fits and encourage women to be themselves. "I just love seeing more people join this sport," Wells said. "Golf will grow with you." Wells teaches all ages and she finds that as the sport community broadens it renders the space more accepting. "It's really about creating a judgment-free space." The purpose of Black Women Golfers is not only to create new and emboldened spaces in golf, but to fortify the work that has been done for racial equality in sport and society. "With what's happening now with the world taking a turn to the right, leaning to the right on the political spectrum, I have a lot of fear and anxieties that the remnants of what people saw to be racial injustice and decided to do something about, they're now closing their doors to or closing their ears to," Athill said. One of the ways that Athill and Wells show up for community is to teach golf and remind women that they have a place swinging the club, working in the sport or growing to love it. If anything, they convinced me to give it another go because of the sheer happiness and enjoyment of the women I saw. My lack of skill wouldn't matter, but my heart and presence would. That's a play I can get behind.

Women's baseball 'legend' Ayami Sato ready to leave a mark in Canadian men's pro league
Women's baseball 'legend' Ayami Sato ready to leave a mark in Canadian men's pro league

Yahoo

time09-05-2025

  • Sport
  • Yahoo

Women's baseball 'legend' Ayami Sato ready to leave a mark in Canadian men's pro league

When Ayami Sato opens a 42-game regular season with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, the Japanese pitcher will be the first woman to play for a Canadian professional men's baseball team. She will take the mound shortly after 2 p.m. ET in an expected start against the visiting Kitchener Panthers, throwing a fastball nearly 80 miles per hour and a curveball reportedly with a higher spin rate than most major leaguers — resulting in more swing-and-miss against hitters. For those doubting Sato's ability to succeed in the nine-team Intercounty Baseball League based in southern Ontario, the Japanese legend is inviting people in and around Toronto to come watch her debut at Dominico Field in Christie Pits. While the curveball isn't her favourite offering, the foot-five right-hander revealed this week during a visit to CBC Sports headquarters in Toronto, she enjoys watching opposing hitters struggle to make contact."I just kept [throwing] it and got better and better by playing," Sato told Anastasia Bucsis through interpreter Yoko van Veen. "Everybody tells me good things about my curveball." Sato, 35, said she has been emotional "every day" since her recent arrival in Toronto and is excited to help the eight-time champion Maple Leafs, who were seventh last season with a 17-25 record before being swept in three games by the Barrie Baycats in a best-of-five first-round playoff series. "Last year I got a [contract] offer and knew I was wanted and needed here," Sato said. "I [want to have] a great season and, most importantly, I will enjoy the games. I want to contribute to the team." The Maple Leafs made Sato the IBL's first female player last December. Team owner and Toronto resident Keith Stein, a lawyer and entrepreneur, was debating hiring a woman in management or coaching but was swayed to sign a player by Leafs executive Andreas Kloppenborg. "I'm always trying to figure out ways to create greater fan engagement and interest in our team," Stein told the Toronto Star in widely considered the best female baseball player in the world, helped Japan to six consecutive Women's Baseball World Cup titles between 2010 and 2024. She was named tournament MVP in 2014, 2016 and 2018. In her lone World Cup start last August, she didn't allow an earned run and struck out five while limiting the United States to four hits and didn't walk a batter in a 4-3 loss. Sato has only walked seven in 11 World Cup starts covering 70 2/3 innings. "I'm excited to watch a legend pitch for the Leafs," team manager and former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Rob Butler told the Star earlier this year. "We are very fortunate to have Sato on our team." The Maple Leafs took an interest in Sato after she was featured last year throughout the Amazon Prime documentary See Her, Be Her that shares the story of Sato and six women fighting for gender equality in sports. She played basketball during middle school since there were no baseball teams for girls but a passion for the latter remained. Fortunately, the boys' coach allowed her to join his team. Sato played on women's teams through high school and at Shobi University in Kawagoe, Japan, but never imagined it would lead to a chance at the professional level in Canada. "I don't see myself being a role model," said Sato, who grew up in Anami, Kagoshima, a small island in southern Japan. "I'm just doing what I have to do but I really appreciate this opportunity. I am so happy. I'd like to enjoy this moment, and I have to enjoy this moment." Sato is a special adviser with the Women's Professional Baseball League, a six-team loop set to launch next year. Stein co-founded the WPBL with Justine Siegal, the first woman to coach for an MLB team with the-then Oakland Athletics in 2015. "If I have the opportunity to play in the league in the future, I would love to participate," Sato told CBC Sports' Tara De Boer for a story published by Toronto Life last December. "But, for now, I'm focused on doing everything I can to bring home some wins for the Maple Leafs." In between her pitching appearances, Sato will be focused on exploring restaurants in Toronto and drinking Canadian beer. "It's my first time living abroad, so everything's new. I'll try to cherish every single moment here in Toronto," she said. "I think I'll look for a good beer when I'm not on the field."

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